


Stay With Me

by BananaChef



Series: Short and Sweet [1]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: :'(, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Crying, Dialogue Heavy, F/M, Feels, Ficlet, Heavy Angst, I'm very sorry, Idiots in Love, Mild Swearing, Self-Hatred, Tragic Romance, as in Brienne calls Jaime out on being a dumbass, because my brain just went DIALOGUE and left, but still, i did it, i said i would rework this and i did, idk why I wrote this but I did, minor ASoIaF characters mentioned, only a little bit of change was needed, the original version had no setting lol, they're honestly so stupid, yes that describes this fic accurately
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24206179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BananaChef/pseuds/BananaChef
Summary: Brienne confronts Jaime about why he tried to leave her behind in Winterfell.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Series: Short and Sweet [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1899604
Comments: 4
Kudos: 60





	Stay With Me

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to my braime buddy, Mari!

“You lied to me.”

“I didn’t.”

She was more forceful this time, but her voice broke. “You said that you—that you _loved_ me.”

“I still do,” he whispered again, utterly distraught. He wasn’t even trying to defend himself; he’d already accepted his miserable fate.

It seemed fitting to him somehow that they were out in the cold, frigid air of Winterfell. Soft flakes of snow floated around them, some landing by their feet, others on the long-dead embers of a fire.

Brienne didn’t bother keeping the tears out of her voice. “Why did you try to leave?”

“I _told you_ , I’m a hateful perso—”

“You’re _not_.”

Jaime snorted, smiling ruefully at the ground from his seat. “Do you want me to lie, then?” He met her gaze, angry. “I tried to leave because I will _never_ be good enough for you. I _tried to leave_ because I don’t deserve your love. All those things I talked about that night? _I did them and I didn’t regret it._ No, I’m not the man I was. But I’ll never be good enough to be with you, Brienne. I was drunk on alcohol the first night we slept together, and I was drunk on love for the rest of them. I’m a sister-fucking, child-crippling, back-stabbing kingslayer. I will always be those things. I can never redeem myself for the lives I’ve ruined. I’ve only done a single thing in my entire life that was simply for the good of the people.”

“You’re so fucking stupid,” Brienne told him, and she sobbed—or maybe laughed. Jaime couldn’t tell. “I never wanted someone ‘good enough’ for me. I just wanted _you_.”

Jaime let out a strangled sob, his eyes flooding with tears. “Do you want to know what I was thinking about before I left?” A tear streaked down his face. “Our future together. I was thinking about the fact that even if I stayed and built a life with you...I’d most likely end up in one of the hells. And, if I _somehow_ didn’t, we most likely wouldn’t end up in the same heaven. I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer to spend eternity with you after spending my living days with you by my side.”

Brienne shook with the force of her silent sobs, burying her face in her hands. _Gods_ , it upset him to see her so broken—all because of him. Jaime knelt before her, prying her hands away from her face and cupping her cheek with his hand.

“Don’t cry for me. I’m not worth your tears,” he said softly, wiping away the wetness on her cheek. He pulled his hand away from her face to grip her hand, pressing a kiss to the back before setting it on her thigh. Jaime couldn’t bring himself to let go now that he was touching Brienne again, so he rested his forehead on her hand.

Then the tears came; his throat seized and he shut his eyes tight, trying to keep them at bay, but they slipped out, onto her hand. For the first time in a long while, Jaime gave in to his urge to cry.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out. “I’m sorry for hurting you. _I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m_ —”

“I love you.”

“No, Brienne, don’t—”

“I love you, Jaime. I don’t give a damn about what you did in the past because you’ve changed, and you’re here with me now—we both survived! Don’t you see? This— _us_ —happened for a reason. I’m _begging you,_ Jaime. Stay with me. I’m not asking you to be a great man. I’m asking you to stay. If the gods think they can tear us apart after all we’ve been through, they’re wrong. I’ll always find my way to you, no matter what I have to do.”

She moved from her seat to kneel on the ground in front of him and pulled him in for a hug. Jaime didn’t answer her, simply wrapping his arms around Brienne as he cried.

“I’ll stay,” he croaked out a few minutes later. “I’ll stay.”


End file.
